10 of the best Spanish players in the Premier League

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All too familiar atop the podium

If there's one nation that knows and showcases the reasons why football is called the beautiful game, it is La Furia Roja. The Red Fury took over the world after a pillaging run that started in the summer of 2008 and kept it up for half a decade. Well, slumps are not permanent and let's hope it is only a matter of time before they get back to their dominant best.

But for the while that they were at the helm, they thrived on the skills of master craftsmen who excelled at their trade across Europe.

Those Spanish lads are just really really good at football.

The Premier League is a tricky place for foreigners to flourish in. Many have arrived with lofty expectations and crumbled under its weight.

We take a look at 10 of the best Spanish players to have made a name for themselves and then some in the Premier League.


#10 Pepe Reina

Juventus FC v SSC Napoli - Serie A
Pepe Reina at Napoli

For 8 years, the Spaniard was Liverpool's number 1. He was not exceptionally brilliant and was always warming the bench internationally because, um, Iker Casillas.

But Reina, whom Benitez had the gall to dub the best goalkeeper in the world, made 400 appearances for Liverpool as their number 1. He was a solid guardian of the gates and managed to keep his promise of letting the net be unperturbed as much as he could. Well, you cannot overlook the importance of Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel but you know a good bald head when you see one.

He was the first goalkeeper and Spaniard to play in the top flight in England, Spain, Germany and Italy.

#9 Cesar Azpilicueta

Chelsea v Watford - Premier League
Hard work and technical excellence

A team with 11 Azpilicuetas could win the Champions League: Jose Mourinho

Cezar Azplicueta is that boy on the field who never gives up. Every tussle and every tackle is a personal battle where he has to outdo himself. That is the kind of character any manager would cherish having in his side and Azpilicueta delivers punctually and it is hard to find him being confused on the field.

He goes about his job without any fuss and ensures no hardships are endured on his watch. Azpilicueta does all of that and slips under the radar and doesn't complain or cry. He gives everything to the cause and his versatility enables him to put in shifts down the flank or even shut shop in the centre.

The 27-year-old nicknamed Dave by the Stamford Bridge faithful, has won 2 Premier League titles with Chelsea. He was also Chelsea Players' Player of the Year in the 2013/14 season.

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#8 Juan Mata

Manchester United v West Ham United - Premier League
Mata is one of the most admired players in the Premier League

Perhaps the most underappreciated Spaniard on the international front, Mata typifies the modern La Roja warrior. Small in size, Mata's game is packed with technical brilliance aided by his subtle touches, deft passing, and astute vision.

During his stint at Chelsea, he won the Champions League and was the club's Player of the Year for 2 consecutive years. He also made it to the Premier League Team of the Year in 2012/13 season.

In a Moyesy United squad that lacked any creative outlets, Mata's arrival came as a whiff of fresh air to the Old Trafford faithful. And ever since, he has been embraced by LVG and Mourinho who had, in fact, sold him in the winter window when he was at Chelsea. If he were a couple of yards quicker, the magic the little Spaniard would weave could shake the world.

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#7 Santi Cazorla

Arsenal v Liverpool - Premier League
You just can't get enough of Cazorla on his best days

Cazorla is at the heart of Arsene Wenger's vision. Gifted with ambidextrous dribbling skills, Cazorla is an elite player all the fans around the world would love to have in their team. His knack for creating chances and weaving intricate networks of passes is second to none. The Spaniard shifted from an attacking/wide position to a deep lying central midfield role and became the centrifuge of the Gunner crib.

However, his injuries have stifled his chances of being one of the world's best midfielders. His being unavailable intermittently has seen Arsenal slip in and out of form. That is the kind of capability that comes packed in Cazorla's boots.

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#6 Diego Costa

Thr
There is no backing down for Costa

Most of the Spanish lads who've prospered in the Premier League have been nice guys. But the exceptions are quite a story of their own. The bully in Diego Costa is perhaps what eggs him on to be the champion goalscorer that he is. His ruthlessness and in-your-face hissy fits have thrown him off to the neutrals but if you had him on your side, you'll go to war with him.

However, if loyalty is not a strong suit and you are happily unaware of your place, there'd be an angry text waiting for you when you get home. Costa found this out this summer when Conte sent him a text message to pack his bags and fly out of West London.

But credit should be given where it's due and I'll let Costa's numbers talk for him. 59 goals in 120 appearances in 3 years. Oh and to top it off, 2 Premier League titles in 3 years. Say what?

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#5 David De Gea

De Gea
De Gea flies around with the grace of a ballerina

The regrouping and restructuring that United have gone through in the post-Fergie era have seen them slump like they've rarely done in the past. Well, it could have been a whole lot worse if Spain's number 1 was not hurling his body around and stopping bullets like he was the chosen one all set to embrace the matrix.

De Gea, after being derided by critics in his first couple of years, evolved into an absolute wall with the reach of a long selfie stick. It is not every day that you see a goalkeeper winning matches for his team but when it came to United, their fans were almost seeing that on a weekly basis. He is arguably the best goalkeeper in England right now and can give Manuel Neuer a run for his money on the international stage.

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#4 Xabi Alonso

Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool - Premier League
The pass-master

Xabi Alonso just always had time on the ball. There was an unsettling sense of calm about him. And he kept that up from the time he was a young and belligerent Spaniard to the time he was winning the World Cup, the Euro Cups and the Champions League with Bayern Munich. He's done it all.

He relished his role as a deep-lying playmaker and he was as deadly with his thunderous strikes as he was with his precision passing. Those diagonals, OhmyGod!

Alonso was a menacing presence in the Premier league when it was the best league in the world. At the height of the the El Clasico rivalry, Xabi Alonso was pulling the strings in the Madrid midfield. When tiki-taka took over the world, he was running oppositions ragged with neat exchanges with some of the best in the world.

Xabi Alonso exudes class and will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the greatest midfielders of the modern era.

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#3 Fernando Torres

Liverpool v Chelsea - UEFA Champions League
There wasn't much you would put past these two

El Nino's career resembles two halves of any run-of-the-mill gangster epic. The rise that saw him shimmying past defenders and bamboozling goalkeepers at Liverpool and then the fall where he bade his time in Chelsea being just another striker although not without some sporadic moments of brilliance.

When he was at the peak of his powers, there was no stopping Fernando Torres. He had the pace and the craft to bully Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Matic at Old Trafford. And that's not even a hyperbole.

He scored 81 goals in 142 appearances for the Merseysiders. But for Chelsea, he scored an underwhelming 45 goals in 172 appearances. Torres' return to Spain saw him return to form but his departure from Premier League made not many miss him much.

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#2 Cesc Fabregas

Arsenal v Fulham
Arsene Wenger rejected a chance to re-sign Fabregas

A product of La Masia, Cesc Fabregas brings the quintessential Spanish midfield idiosyncrasies to the ground and has played for some of Europe's finest. After starting off his professional career with Arsenal, Fabregas rides a chariot of wonders and creates chances at will.

What he lacks in physicality, he makes up for with his technique and unerring decision making. He is one of the most decorated individuals on the list. He has won 2 Premier League titles, 1 La Liga, 1 Club World Cup, 2 Euro Cups and 1 Fifa World Cup. He was the Premier League Player of the Year in the 2007/08 season and has been the assist leader in the 2007/08 with Arsenal and again in 2014/15 with Chelsea.

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#1 David Silva

Everton v Manchester City - Premier League
Ease and grace personified

Silva is a rover who nonchalantly roams around the final third and looks like he is up to no harm only until he wreaks carnage with passes as sharp as a tack. Elusive and reliable on the ball, the Spaniard is the calming presence that has helped put City on the map in their second coming.

He can kill the most excited ball with a neat caress and shove the calmest of defences into a fit of chaos. Though primarily a playmaker, David Silva has no qualms when it comes to castling the goalkeepers and rattling the net. He was also an indispensable part of La Roja when bullying the best was second nature to them.

Now playing his 8th season with Manchester City, the 31-year-old has won the Premier League twice and was at the very centre of it all.

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Edited by Amit Mishra